Wanda's Big Vacation
by Mina-Fox-Glam
Summary: School's out and Wanda has invited some friends to go on a road trip to Orlando with her little family in a big van.
1. Packing Up

Disclaimer: _The Magic School Bus_ is the property of Scholastic, as well as author Joanna Cole and artist Bruce Degen. Mina Ral is a fan-character of mine who only appears during the last day of school scene.

It was the last day of school at Walkerville Elementary.

"Class, I have a surprise for you all," said Ms. Frizzle.

Ms. Frizzle led her class to the Bus. As they boarded the Bus, the kids sat in the seats and then Ms. Frizzle yanked down one of the handles and the ceiling above the aisle opened up and coming out of the ceiling were a line of suitcases that were all replicas of the Bus, one for each student. The suitcases came with tags that not only contained the students' names and addresses and the names of their parents (or whoever their legal guardians were) but also with his or her own personal photo taken on spring picture day with the student in front of a flowery background. Then they headed back to the classroom.

Later that day, Ms. Frizzle's students lined up at the door and then the bell rang.

"Have a nice summer, class," said Ms. Frizzle.

The students all ran down the hallways and out the door, waiting for their parents to pick them up.

"Ready for the fishing trip with my parents and me?" Ralphie asked Mina.

"You bet," Mina replied.

Wanda's vacation plan was the biggest of all. She had just invited three of the other girls from her class for the big road trip to Orlando.

One week later, Wanda's three friends from her class came to her house. They were dropped off at Wanda's house, one by one: a sky blue station wagon with faux wood paneling on the exterior (a 1981 Buick Century), stepping out of that car was Dorothy Ann; then came a flare red 4-door sedan (a 1972 Chevrolet Impala), stepping out of that car was Phoebe; and finally a red convertible (a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle), and stepping out of that car was Keesha.

Each of the three girls whom were invited brought along their suitcases and backpacks and some other items for the trip. They also brought along their own cameras for taking photos during the trips. Phoebe brought along a stuffed red fox which she named "Felix", that she would always cuddle with in bed and while on road trips, some handheld video games, and some audio cassettes with oldies songs from the 1970s and 1980s. Dorothy Ann brought along some dolls, books, and audiobooks on cassettes. Keesha brought along some video games, magazines, and some audio cassettes that had rock music.

Wanda and her mom had spent the last three days packing up their items for the trip. From the day before, they took their dog to the vet so they would take care of him while they were out on vacation.

After Wanda's three friends arrived in the house, it was time to get all their stuff loaded into Mrs. Li's van, which was parked in the garage and facing the garage door. Mrs. Li's van was a 1975 Ford Econoline that was navy blue with cyan accents on the top and bottom all-around, had a spare tire mounted on the left door of the rear compartment doors, a sliding door on the passenger side for rear entry passengers, and had a roof rack. The inside was navy blue to match the exterior and had seating for up to eight people, including the driver.

As they all walked into the garage, Mrs. Li opened the rear storage doors and they all loaded in their suitcases. Along with the suitcases, two of the coolers belonging to Wanda's family were also loaded in there, packed with food and drinks. Then, the girls brought their own pillows and blankets and put them each on the bench seats to ready themselves for the trip: the middle seat from the passenger to driver side was for Dorothy Ann, Wanda, and William whose car seat was there; and the back seat from the passenger to driver side was for Keesha and Phoebe.

After loading their stuff into the van, when it was 5:00, Mrs. Li ordered pizza for all to eat for dinner. Then after dinner, they all showered up and changed into their pajamas and went to bed as early as 8:00 to get ready for the trip. Wanda's pajamas were pink with a panda bear on it, Dorothy Ann's were lavender with a kangaroo on it, Phoebe' were reddish-orange with a fox on it, and Keesha's were violet with a chimpanzee on it. Mrs. Li wore a pink nightgown with a bamboo graphic on it and William had on blue and gray summer pajamas with a Panda Bear face on the front.


	2. Vanning Out of Walkerville

At 4:00 AM, Mrs. Li and the girls and William all woke up.

"To the van, girls!" said Mrs. Li. "And you too, William. Since you're the only boy on this trip."

After waking up, the girls picked up their backpacks and other belongings and headed to the van in the garage. Right before they climbed into the van, Mrs. Li changed William out of his wet cloth diaper (which he would wear at night) and into his big boy boxer shorts (which he would wear during the day). Wanda opened the sliding door of the van, and the first to climb in were Phoebe and Keesha who reserved the back seat. Then Mrs. Li arrived into the garage, carrying William. As Wanda climbed into the van, Mrs. Li then handed William over to Wanda and then Wanda set William in his car seat and strapped him in. Then Dorothy Ann climbed into the van and closed the sliding door. Then Mrs. Li went back inside and then came back with an enclosed coffee mug and coffee pitcher and then climbed into the van and sat in the driver seat. She had made herself coffee to keep herself awake on the trip since she was the only driver. Mrs. Li then pressed the remote, which opened the garage door.

"Are you all bucked up? she asked?

"Uh-huh," said the four girls.

"Then away we go," said Mrs. Li and then started up the engine.

The girls were still a tad tired. As soon as Mrs. Li pulled out of the garage and then closed the garage door, the girls put themselves in the mood for relaxation. Phoebe mounted Felix on her lap and then took out her cassette player and headphones from her backpack, and then put in a cassette and started listening to some tunes.

"Awww, Felix," said Phoebe drifting herself into sleep. "Hope you enjoy the road trip we're all going on."

Keesha then took out her cassette player and headphones and started listening to music just like the girl she was sitting with.

"Ahhh, another field trip for sure," said Keesha. "How I'm so going to miss being in Ms. Frizzle's class."

Dorothy Ann then put on her gear like the two girls in the back seat, and then she took out a book and then started listening to the audiobook so she could follow along while she was reading.

Wanda however was listening to music from her favorite singer Molly Cule, but at the same time was being the navigator of the trip.

Outside as they were leaving, there were only a few other cars going out and about. Most of the vehicles active around this time were mostly commercial vehicles but some other cars around this time had people heading to work if they started working early morning shifts.

In the next five minutes after leaving the house, they headed for the interstate. Mrs. Li was sipping down the hot coffee she brought along so that she could retain her energy and keep driving while the girls and William needed their naps on the way.

Later, when it was 5:00 AM, they stopped at a rest stop to go use the restroom: all of them, including William into the women's restroom. When they were done, they all returned to the van and continued he drive on.

In the next hour, all of the girls were hungry for breakfast.

"I'm hungry," moaned Keesha.

"Me too," said Phoebe.

"I feel as empty as a Panda without bamboo," said Wanda.

"Relax, girls," said Mrs. Li. "If you'll wait 20 minutes, we can find a restaurant to eat at that's open for breakfast. Not every one is open for breakfast, but some open at 5 AM, some at 6 AM, and some don't even open until 7 or 8 AM. We do have plenty of local restaurants that open as early as 5 or 6 AM for breakfast, but few that are open 24/7. We'll see."

"According to my research," added Dorothy Ann, "the longer you don't eat, the hungrier you get, but you do shed some weight if you don't eat as much but you'll shed even more if you exercise."

"Exercise?" said Wanda. "We're not in a gym right now."

"I know," said Dorothy Ann. "I'm giving pointers that everyone needs to be fit and healthy."

"All right, all right," said Mrs. Li. "That's enough. You're even making me feel just as hungry."

Within the next ten minutes, they had just entered Mansfield, Pennsylvania and saw a billboard advertising a brunch restaurant whose business hours said they're open 6 AM to 3 PM Sunday through Wednesday, but until 9 PM Thursday through Saturday: MAMA ELIZABETH'S PIONEER KITCHEN – FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1882 – Exit Next 3 Miles.

"Wow," said Wanda. "Over a century of business and going strong. I mean this is 1995 now."

"According to my research," Dorothy Ann added, "If it opened in 1882, that means they've been in business for 113 years."

"Know-it-all," teased Keesha.

"Chill," said Phoebe. "If D.A. is intelligent, please respect that."

"Girls, just sit back and relax," said Mrs. Li. "We'll be stopping here pretty shortly."

 _I hope they serve vegan food,_ thought Phoebe. _I don't eat animals. Who'd eat animals? My definition of old-fashioned food means they don't use processed ingredients or animal-based ones._


	3. Breakfast

So Mrs. Li and the kids exited off the interstate and headed to a white and red-accented building that appeared to look like a 2-story 19th Century prairie house. Though the building looked out of date, it appeared to be in pristine condition. The parking lot was about a quarter full for people who were doing business in the early mornings. As they parked, they slowly filed out of the van and entered the building.

As they entered the restaurant, they went to a hostess to be seated to a table. The restaurant's personnel wore clothes that pioneer settlers wore ages ago.

"Good morning," greeted the hostess whose brunette hair was braided. "How many in your party?"

"Six," said Mrs. Li.

"Okay," said the hostess. "This way please."

The hostess led Mrs. Li and the kids to a table that had six wooden wheelback chairs and seated them. With the help of another staff member who was a male, a wooden booster seat was provided for William. Mrs. Li and her two kids sat on one side and she sat between her son and daughter, and the three of Wanda's friends sat on the opposite side with Dorothy Ann in the middle: Phoebe across from Wanda and Keesha across from William. The six were then handed out menus, one regular menu just for Mrs. Li while the rest were kids' menus. William, being three years old was too young to read, so he relied on Mrs. Li to order for him.

"While you guys are looking at the menus, what would you guys like to start off for drinks?" asked the hostess.

Mrs. Li ordered herself a cup of hot coffee and would be served a pitcher if she needed to refill her mug. Wanda and her brother William went for a kids' order of milk while the three other girls went for a kids' order of orange juice.

Mrs. Li and the girls looked at their menus on what to eat. All but Phoebe were quick to decide. Phoebe took her time finding some possible vegan options.

"I think I'll have the Eggs Benedict," said Mrs. Li.

Just then a waitress who was about twice the age of the hostess who appeared to be in her early twenties came by with a tray of drinks, including the coffee pitcher and mug for Mrs. Li and was serving them their drinks. Her brown hair with some gray streaks was tied into a neat bun. The cups for the kids were plastic and contained an illustration of pioneer kids on the prairie who appeared to be around 8-12 years old and were sealed with a red cap and plastic translucent straw.

"Do you need more time with the menus?" asked the waitress.

"I'm ready," said Mrs. Li.

Though Phoebe took more time to look on the menu, she decided she found what she wanted and was the last in line to place her order. Mrs. Li ordered the Eggs Benedict with a side of hash browns for herself and pancakes for William, Wanda ordered eggs and bacon served with a side of star-shaped hash browns, Dorothy Ann ordered chocolate-chip pancakes and omelets, Keesha ordered pancakes topped with blueberries and a side of eggs, and Phoebe ordered pancakes topped with strawberries.

Fifteen minutes later, Mrs. Li and the kids received their foods. The kids were given free refills on their drinks as well. The waitress also brought out a glass pitcher of hot maple syrup for the kids whose breakfasts had pancakes. For the girls whose platters had pancakes, Phoebe applied syrup to her pancakes in a zig-zag pattern while the other two girls just let the syrup appear to flood around their pancakes. The girls whose plates had animal-based foods applied pepper to them. William however ate his pancakes plain as most picky eaters do at such a young age.

Mrs. Li and the kids all ate their food and enjoyed themselves. After they were done, they all went up to the cashier and Mrs. Li paid for her party's breakfast.

Then Mrs. Li and the kids headed back to the van. It was almost 7:00 and the sun was rising up from the ground and it was getting gradually brighter.

"Well, that was a delectable breakfast," said Mrs. Li. "Let's keep on going because there should never be time to lose."

Then they left and went back on the interstate and continued going down south.


	4. Gaming in the Backseat

After Mrs. Li and the kids had breakfast and continued driving down south, Phoebe and Keesha were in the mood for video games. So the two girls in the back seat unpacked their handheld gaming consoles and they each flipped through some games that they could play one-on-one with each other. Phoebe had brought along a link-up cable so she and Keesha could play together. They both found a racing game in their bags and decided to play that game. Phoebe was Player 1 while Keesha was Player 2. They were playing on Grand Prix Mode where they were rivaling against the four CPU-controlled opponents.

"Here we go," said Phoebe, as the driver she was playing did a rocket start from the starting line. "Now, pass these guys."

"Ha-ha," teased Keesha, as the driver she was playing also was passing the CPU opponents. "No car can beat mine."

Phoebe and Keesha continued playing through the game on the first course. When they cleared it, Phoebe finished in first place and Keesha second.

"Whoo-hoo!" chanted Phoebe and Keesha. "We win! We did it! We did it! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"

"Phoebe, Keesha, cut it out!" shouted Wanda, looking at those two girls. "Your chanting is driving me crazy!"

"I'm trying to read!" added Dorothy Ann. "And I always do it with audiobooks to follow along."

"I have an idea," Mrs. Li intervened. "Why don't you girls back there all just cool it? I'm trying to pay attention and I can't with you girls being loud."

After being ordered to remain quiet, Phoebe and Keesha continued playing for the next 20 minutes until suddenly a tiny red light blinked on Phoebe's handheld console.

"Oh no!" said Phoebe. "My batteries are wearing down. And I forgot to bring some with me."

"Chill out, Phoebs," said Keesha. "It's not that you're addicted to video games and stuff. There's more to vacations than video games. We only play games if we get bored."

Despite the low battery alert on Phoebe's console, she and Keesha continued playing until Phoebe's screen went blank and Keesha's screen received a disconnection alert and asked her to press any button to return to the title screen.

"Great," said Phoebe in disbelief. "Now I can't play anymore."

"Relax," said Keesha. "There's no need to get hooked on games for hours."

"I know," said Phoebe. "I even learned about it at my old school."

"Nobody cares about your old school," said Keesha. "You've said it so many times throughout the school year, and even Ms. Frizzle suggested that you let go of the past."

"We can let go of the past," replied Phoebe. "But we can't deny anything like that ever happened. Once you go to one school, it's on your record. Always."

Later, when it was 11:00 AM, they arrived in Baltimore and decided to go find a place to stay for the night. Before they could go find a hotel to stay in, they went to go find a Wendy's to eat lunch.


End file.
